India is innovating...

The full title of Rediff's article reads: 'India is innovating its way out of poverty.'

A pioneering research published on April 9 in Nature Biotechnology said that India's health biotech firms are emerging as major global players, with growing means and knowhow to produce innovative as well as generic drugs and vaccines at a fraction of a cost compared to those produced by global giants.

"India is innovating its way out of poverty . . . it is poised to revolutionise biotechnology just as it did the information technology industry," says Professor Peter A Singer, principal author of the research study.

India has a number of poverty reduction programmes initiated since the 1960s.

India is a federation of states and 75% of indian population depends on agriculture whereas its contribution of agriculture to the GDP was 22%.

For most of its post-independence history, India adhered to a quasi-socialist approach, with strict government control over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment.

However, since 1991, India has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms and reduced government controls on foreign trade and investment.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Indian government programs attempted to provide basic needs at stable, low prices; to increase income through pricing and regulations, such as supplying water from irrigation works, fertilizer, and other inputs; to foster location of industry in backward areas; to increase access to basic social services, such as education, health, and potable water supply; and to help needy groups and deprived areas.

Nothwithstanding a vibrant economy and the tremendous innovation that is taking place in the service industries, India still has many challenges in the distribution of wealth and poverty reduction. India has world's largest concentration of people in poverty-more than 300 million.